Bajaj launched a few days back what it calls a Street version of the Pulsar 220. But what it actually is can be explained in more than one way. It can be called a faring removal job on the P220 or a P200 with a 220cc engine or a P220 with the standard Pulsar doom. The 220 S costs about 3 grand less than the normal P220 at an on-road price of Rs. 78,000. Frankly I don’t see any takers for this one, may be if they had fiddled with the doom a little.

As we know Bajaj launched the Pulsar 135 in Delhi yesterday and here are our thoughts on that. While that was an event of itself Rajiv Bajaj revealed quite a handful of Bajaj’s future plans which made the event worth the while for reporters. Here are Bajaj’s future plans

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Photo courtesy: IndianAutosBlog and Vicky

Press Release:

BAJAJ AUTO LAUNCHES THE PULSAR 135LS TO LEAVES TRAFFIC JAMSBEHIND!First of its kind Light Sports bike launched in India
New Delhi, December 9, 2009: Nothing takes away more from the pleasure of biking, than the biggest bane of urban life – traffic! Unending jams, errant drivers and potholed roads turn every ride into a battle, leaving the rider hassled and exhausted. Wouldn’t it be great to have a light, yet zippy set of wheels, something that would let you carve up traffic like a hot knife through butter? The all new Pulsar 135 LS (Light Sport), the first of its kind in India, is designed to do just that. This bike is designed to add a whole new dimension to the motorcycle market by creating a new Light Sports segment.

1. More power: The 4 valve provides for a greater intake and exhaust area resulting in more power, almost equivalent a 2 valve 150cc engine.
2. Sustained top end power: The light-weight character of the four smaller valves (as opposed to two heavier valves), which allow the engine to effortlessly rev to an eye-popping 10,500 rpm (electronically limited)!
3. Sporty ride: Given the wider rpm band, the engine can be revved hard and high in each gear resulting in a genuine sporty ride.
4. More Mileage: Established superiority of DTS-i blended with 4 valve not only enhances the performance but also returns a very good fuel economy (68.1 km/l certified by ARAI)
5. More green: Comfortably meets BSIII regulations.

The pre-launch pictures of the 135 spurred up the expectation and from the looks of it Bajaj has lived up to it. The 135 pulsar the smallest of them all is priced at a very sensible 51k ex-showroom Delhi which on-road would cost around 58k. Though it is the smallest it is quite interesting as it has some first of its kind features.

It has the first of its kind engine with 4 valves and 2 spark-plugs; Bajaj calls it the world’s first 4-valved DTS-i engine, this reflects very well on the power produced. This 135cc produces 13.5ps of power which is pretty close to the pulsar 150’s power-rating of 14.08ps. Also it is more powerful than the Honda stunner which has a bhp rating of 11.6 which comes to about 11.76ps of power. So 135 is a clear winner in the power fight.

The other first of its kind is the digital tachometer with analogue display as in digital needle circling digital numbers. It has a couple of feature even the 150 doesn’t have, split seats and clip on handle bars. The downside is the smaller non-pulsar tank which has a capacity of 8+2.5 litres which is 5 less than the 150 pulsar. The 135 has all the other mandatory features like electric/kick start, alloy wheels, led brake lights, rear gas shocks and front disc brake.

The overall design of the bike is bold (as it is heavily borrowed from the concept Xcd 135 sprint) with an out of the box front faring design which Bajaj calls bikini headlight faring and an unconventional rear mud guard and tail fixed number plate. The plot behind the rear design to my knowledge is that you can still remove the mud guard for the sportier tire-thread showing looks and still have your number plate intact. Seems Bajaj has covered all grounds with this one. Oh ya one more thing the mileage is 65kmpl on standard Arai test.

So the Pulsar 135 may not be a pulsar but it sure is much more.

Click here for more technical details.

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The thought of a next pulsar is good enough to create a delight in the Indian biking scene but sadly it isn’t going up from 220 but down from 150. I am not sure if the 135 would have the pulsar pedigree because Bajaj haven’t been able to make a proper bike below the 150cc cut off (riding the discover gives me a feeling of sitting on a log, the XCD throws at me a overwhelming feel of plastics) but from the looks of it they certainly have tried.

The 135 Pulsar will definitely be a badass is what the impression I get from the pictures, it does seems to stand out from the Bajaj cheepos. The head light for instance is one of the most insane designs I have seen after the original Fazer’s Martian eyes. It has the shape of the Transformers Auto bots logo with diamonds filled in. the wind shield on top of that complements perfectly the headlight cluster.

They tried passing on this aggressive design cue to the rear and have failed. To make the rear sportier Pulsar 135 started off with losing its conventional rear mudguard (which begs in for a tail mounted number plate) which would make the tire and its threads more visible and give the rear the needed aggressive attire but Bajaj went with the mudguard which clinches on close with the tire and ruins the illusion.

Tank which is the only thing every Pulsar has in common is thrown out for good and replace with a smaller, plain and rightly proportioned tank. The air scoops on either sides of it go well with the wild look which is also complemented by the middle gray plastic clip on. The seats are split in the interest of making it stand up from the XCD 135 and so are the split grab rails and split handle bar. The exhaust looks new and points down towards the tip which might make an interesting sound. Speaking of sound the Pulsar 135 is making, Bajaj has launched a teaser website with a teaser trailer.

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After a million meetings between the partners, the duo/trio has come to a decision on the Ultra-Low Cost car (ULC) which was showcased a year back. Renault/Nissan’s boss Carlos Ghosn said to the press that they have come to a decision on the project after talks with Bajaj but a formal written agreement has not been signed yet.

From what Ghosn said, it looks like Bajaj who is the brains behind the cheap sourcing of raw material and cost effective design of the car won’t be getting its badge on the car. According to the deal struck Renault/Nissan would take care of branding, marketing and sales. Rajiv Bajaj was not present during the Ghosn speech and was out of contact to get a quick comment.

Carlos Ghosn’s punch lines from the Press meet:

“I am sure that the cost of the car will be lower than any car made in India”.
“There would be no Bajaj name on the badge of the car,”
“We have a clear strategy now on who does what,”
“As per the verbal agreement between both the companies, the design, engineering, sourcing and manufacturing of the proposed car will be handled by Bajaj Auto, while its branding, marketing and selling will be done by the Renault-Nissan,”
“We are looking at low cost frugal manufacturing, but the price of the car would be determined by the competition prevailing in the market,”

Rajiv Bajaj launched the Ninja 250R in Pune’s Pro-biking showroom today (7th Oct) as informed earlier. The info from the launch was tad disappointing as the price is a bit off and the only color options are green and black, no blue or red.

But First things first, the price which is Rs. 2,69,700 in Delhi and Rs. 2,69,580 in Chennai both ex-showroom prices. This is a bit off from what was expected but think about it, it’s the only bike in India which will take you to a top speed of 185 kmph for less than 10Lakh.

Other big news from the launch are:
• KTM bikes (of which Bajaj owns stakes) will be launched by Bajaj in 3 months.
• New Pulsar models in 2011
• Higher end Kawasaki Ninjas to be launched.

The bike as it reads has a 250cc engine but it is parallel twin cylindered with dual over head cam (DOHC). Max. Power output is 32bhp at a whopping 11,000 rpm. Engine is liquid cooled and fuel injection type. It comes with a 6-speed gearbox.

Ninja gets a bigger tank with a capacity of 17litres, hope that will be enough to compensate with its mileage. It gets both front and rear discs as one would expect. Both the tires are tubeless with a dimension of 110/70 for the front and 130/70 for the rear.

The bike is being brought into the country as a completely knocked down (CKD) product and so carries a minimal 11% tax. With a simple calculation knowing the US price of the bike which is roughly under 4k and the tax it looks like Bajaj is making 50k out of one Ninja. Initial consignment just includes 50 Ninjas so book yours for booking fees of Rs. 40,000 at any one of the 22 pro-biking showrooms spread out all over India.

Pictures from the Launch:

Picture Courtesy : Vicky.in

The earlier report of the Ninja being launched on the 5th came from Rajiv Bajaj but there seems to be a slight delay according to the new teaser website Kawasaki-Bajaj has flown.

The website has a reverse count-down towards the launch we presume. As of today the clock read 5 days, that’s 7th. We couldn’t make out anything else for the website other than Kawasaki’s new tag-line for the Ninja “Let the good times roll” and with the Ninja the good times will roll faster!

Check out the teaser website here.

For previous posts on the Ninja click here.

Its confirmed from the mouth of Rajiv Bajaj himself that the Kawasaki Ninja 250 will be launched in India on the 5th of this October, that is in less than two weeks , Sorry couldn’t help the smiley .

Rajiv Bajaj said “The bookings would start just ahead of Diwali and the deliveries would happen immediately,”. Business Standard suggested that the bike will cost somewhere between 1.5 – 2 Lakh Rupees.

OMG this Diwali is going to be hell of a lot fired up than we thought!

Bajaj filed a case against TVS for patent violation two years back. Due to the case, TVS had to stop the manufacturing of the technology, which it intended to use in its bike model Flame. A development in this case came a year back when the Supreme Court allowed TVS to manufacture the bike but not sell it. This wasn’t good enough so TVS re-appealed.

Yesterday on the 16th Sep, Supreme Court over ruled Bajaj’s case and allowed TVS to sell the bike with Twin spark technology. But this is not a complete win for TVS since the Supreme Court has asked TVS to deposit the sales procedures to a court appointed receiver.

Meanwhile Bajaj’s statement say that this is not a victory for TVS since the appointment of the court appointed receiver would facilitate the courts to determine the amount of damage that would become payable to Bajaj, should the court decide the matter in favor of Bajaj after the Trials.

The Supreme Court has asked the Madras High court to finish the trial and voice its judgment by 30th November.

Earlier we brought to you a blurry picture of the Kawasaki Ninja 250 shot from outside Pune’s pro-biking showroom. Recently x-bhp released couple of more close-up pictures from inside the showroom. Apparently the bike was in the showroom shortly for the Kawasaki official to calculate the display space the green goblin will need.

Contrasting to the previous reports the Ninja won’t be a CBU (completely built unit), it will be brought in as completely knocked down units which is the greatest news for all bikers in India.

The Ninja is sold in the US for $ 3000, which comes to an equivalent of Rs. 1.5 lakhs. Now that we know it’s not going to be a CBU, the whopping 110% duty vanishes. We expect it to cost well a little south of 2 lakh rupees.

All these mean one thing! The Ninja isn’t far price-wise and time-wise.